Hospital Ghosts and Hauntings

The Flincher

Location: Cliveden (Buckinghamshire) - Cliveden Canadian War Memorial Hospital (no longer standing)Type: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: Dates unknown, but was most common on MondaysFurther Comments: Several shades were said to haunt this building, including a one legged soldier who roamed the north end of the main corridor (the ghost made babies cry if he appeared in the maternity ward), and an entity known as 'The Flincher' who had been seen in the southern part of the hospital. This ghost had chased people out of the building with a crash and a loud shriek.

Living Old Woman

Location: Colchester (Essex) - Colchester Hospital, Ward EightType: Manifestation of the LivingDate / Time: UnknownFurther Comments: The doppelganger of an old woman in bed was spotted within the hospital.

Nun Handing Out Toffee

Location: Colchester (Essex) - Essex Country Hospital, Children's WardType: Post-Mortem ManifestationDate / Time: UnknownFurther Comments: An interesting story, one gentleman has recalled as a child he was visited by a nun one evening, who offered him a toffee. Taking and eating the sweet, he watched as she faded from view a few seconds later.

Nurse in Old Fashioned Uniform

Location: Colchester (Essex) - Military HospitalType: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: World War IIFurther Comments: A nurse wearing a Victorian uniform was seen by several people walking down a corridor, vanishing once she had reached the end. One of the patients was convinced that she had helped change his dirty bandages.

Two Men Working on Flower Beds

Location: Colchester (Essex) - Severalls Hospital (now closed)Type: Unknown Ghost TypeDate / Time: 1960s (?)Further Comments: Two gardeners reported seeing a couple of featureless characters working in the garden one rainy afternoon. The gardeners went to investigate, only to see the figures fade away.

Elderly Woman

Location: Cookridge (Yorkshire) - Cookridge and Ada hospitalType: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: Summer 2003Further Comments: A paramedic with a colleague pushing a stretcher approached a lift in the hospital. Just ahead of them, an elderly woman entered the lift and the doors closed. The paramedic dashed and hit the lift call button before the elevator could move and the doors reopened - the woman who had entered moments before was nowhere to be seen.

Nun

Location: Cork (County Cork) - St Finbarr's HospitalType: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: 1940s onwardsFurther Comments: The ghost of a nun was said to have been spotted by several members of staff as she walks down the corridors. The style of clothing is from the 1940s.

Cloaked Figure

Location: Derby (Derbyshire) - Royal Hospital, built on site of Derby City HospitalType: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: January 2009 (media reports), November 2011 (nurses)Further Comments: Staff had reported seeing a figure wearing a black cloak in various parts of the new hospital, particularly around the morgue. While initially the media reported that an exorcism would take place, a later statement from the hospital denied this. Some believe the figure to be a Roman soldier who died nearby, as the old Derby City Hospital was constructed on an ancient Roman road. In November 2011 a witness reported seeing two nurses in old fashioned clothing, one male and the other female, standing by the foot of her bed. They watched the witness in a caring way.

Location: Dublin (County Dublin) - Mater Private Nursing Hospital (no longer standing?)Type: Crisis ManifestationDate / Time: 1920Further Comments: Sean appeared to his friend Dan Breen as he lay in hospital - both were involved in a gun fight with the British, though Sean died of his wounds some hours before visiting Dan.

Jonathan Swift

Location: Dublin (County Dublin) - St Patrick's Psychiatric HospitalType: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: UnknownFurther Comments: The author of Gulliver's Travels has been seen many times since 1745, when the hospital which Swift championed finally opened.

Blurred Figure

Location: E1 (Greater London) - London Jewish Hospital (closed 1979)Type: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: 1977Further Comments: Thought to be a former patient, this ghost took up residence in a day room used by nurses, and would brush past them.

Grey Lady

Location: E1 (Greater London) - Royal London HospitalType: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: UnknownFurther Comments: A spectral grey lady has been reported walking around this London Hospital. There is also a tradition ensuring that the shutters are closed at the hospital - if they are left open overnight, it is widely believed someone unexpected dies.

Smoker

Location: E11 (Greater London) - Wansted HospitalType: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: UnknownFurther Comments: Along one corridor, where a murder was committed many years ago, a spot exists which is said to cause people to run after dark, such is the fear it generates. The murder is said to have occurred over tobacco and a pipe.

Nurse?

Location: E3 (Greater London) - New property on the site of the old St. Andrews HospitalType: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: 2010Further Comments: One property owner reported an entity which likes quiet at night - it turns the TV volume down and woke up someone snoring with a loud 'shhh!'.

George

Location: E3 (Greater London) - St Andrews Hospital (no longer standing)Type: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: Circa 1976Further Comments: Three workers installing a two new lifts on the site watched as a shimmering white shape appeared next to them, similar to a heat haze, before it disappeared a couple of seconds later. Mentioning it to the nurses, they said it may have been 'George', a poltergeist-like entity who moved things around unless they said hello to him as they started their shift.

Sleeping Nurse

Location: E8 (Greater London) - Mothers Hospital (no longer operational), HackneyType: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: Twentieth century?Further Comments: Nurses on the verge of falling asleep would feel a light tap on the shoulder. Legends stated a nurse was responsible for the death of an infant due to dozing on duty; she killed herself and her ghost ensured no-one made the same mistake.

Wailing Woman

Location: East Kilbride (Lanarkshire) - Hospital grounds along Eaglesham RoadType: Unknown Ghost TypeDate / Time: 04 March 2005, approx 00:30hFurther Comments: A pair of friends walking along the road had a strange, uncontrollable compulsion to lift the cover of a storm drain. The sound of a woman's sobbing could be heard from the hole, which quickly became a wail. When they spotted a glowing mist coming towards them from the drain, the friends regained control of their bodies and fled from the area.

Nun in Grey

Location: Eastbourne (Sussex) - All Saints HospitalType: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: 1975Further Comments: Disappearing from one witness in a puff of smoke, this nun is believed to be one of the order which once ran the hospital.

Pinkie

Location: EC1 (Greater London) - St Bartholomew's Hospital, West SmithfieldType: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: UnknownFurther Comments: Grace Ward (once known as Pinkie's Ward?) is reputedly home to a nurse in old fashioned dress. Some say that she killed herself after administering an overdose to a patient, while other stories say she was murdered by a insane patient in the lift (after which, the lift would never work correctly). Another ghostly nurse haunts Bedford Fenwick Ward, and is said to be comforting in nature. Another story, or another version of first story, says that the theatre lift in the King George the Fifth block is haunted by Jasmine, who smells strongly of floral perfume.

Headless Woman with Child

Location: Edinburgh (Lothian) - Site of the Gillespie HospitalType: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: Nineteenth centuryFurther Comments: Before the construction of the hospital, the land was given to a mansion that was haunted by a headless lady carrying a small child. When this building was demolished, their bodies were found concealed beneath.

Bearded Man

Location: Edinburgh (Lothian) - Unknown hospital, Ward DType: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: Twentieth centuryFurther Comments: This hairy man with mad-looking eyes was once a doctor on the site, killed by another medical practitioner over the love of a girl.

Victorian Nurse

Location: Exeter (Devon) - HospitalType: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: UnknownFurther Comments: A ghostly nurse occasionally appears by the bed of anyone close to death and rearranges any nearby flowers so that they form a cross.

Lady with Grey Hair

Location: Glasgow (Lanarkshire) - Rosshall hospitalType: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: January 2008Further Comments: A grey haired lady who died in theatre three many years ago is still said to haunt the area. Staff report a fleeting glance of her ghost before it vanishes.

Ward Sister

Location: Glasgow (Lanarkshire) - Royal Infirmary HospitalType: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: Sister in Twentieth century, and patient in 2002Further Comments: At least one nurse has claimed to have seen a ward sister walking around at night, normal looking other than the fact the apparition appears to be cut off at the knee. Ward 27 is reported to be home to Archie, a ghostly elderly man who wears a bun net and can be seen talking to dying patients. More recently, while answering an arrest call, a doctor was asked the way out by a patient. The doctor pointed over his shoulder as he continued to run down the corridor. When the doctor reached the patient who had arrested and died, he realised that it was the same man who had asked for directions.